Emmaus Disaster Relief Center, in Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture, began the task of providing aid for survivors immediately after the disaster, and continues to do so. As more and more people are moving out of temporary housing, Emmaus is confronted with the needs of the people who are left behind.

by Kikuchi Mamoru, Emmaus staff member

Kyodan Tohoku Disaster Relief Center

Member, Izumi Aisen Church

The Kyodan Tohoku Disaster Relief Center, Emmaus, has been providing aid that matches the individual needs of each survivor. This aid is administered from two locations, Emmaus Sendai and Emmaus Ishinomaki, and has been enabled by the efforts of our staff, working together with domestic and international volunteers. At Emmaus Sendai, where I work (hereafter referred to as “Emmaus”), we have provided agricultural support and have had fellowship with people who live in temporary housing through various activities, including several seasonal events along with our regular “Radio Gymnastics and Ochakko Salon” (literally, tea-drinking salon), which is held at 8:30 every morning from Tuesday to Saturday.

Sato Masashi, sent by the Kyodan to work full-time at Emmaus, is also the assistant pastor of Izumi Aisen Church, to which I belong, where he has served since April 2012. This church was given the opportunity to be transformed into a place where disaster survivors could go for support. I heard about Emmaus from Masashi and thought, “This is my hometown, and these are my neighbors. There must be something that I can do.” So I volunteered to be a staff member.

At first, I was worried about whether or not I could keep pace with the young people at Emmaus. However, the survivors that I meet at work are the same age as myself, so it is easy for them to relate to me. I have gradually gained self-confidence in my role as an elderly person. The church members come together to work hard to provide aid. The women of the church regularly volunteer, making dinner for the workers and preparing meals at the temporary housing projects.

We have movie screening and ochakko (tea drinking) once a month at the emergency temporary housing project in Asuto Nagamachi. During the summer of 2015, Emmaus helped conduct a survey on the actual living conditions and housing plans of the residents as we visited and listened to them. At that time, this temporary housing project had 233 households, making it the temporary housing project with the largest number of residents in the city of Sendai. Three public-housing apartment buildings have been completed nearby into which 100 households have moved, so there are now only about 50 households still remaining in temporary housing.

Because it is difficult for people living alone to get into these new apartments and privately rented housing is either too expensive or guarantors cannot be found, the net result is that they are stranded in these temporary housing units. Likewise, the temporary housing residents’ association that tried to integrate the various opinions of the temporary housing residents has now disbanded. The results of the survey made it clear that there are three problems. First, a certain number of households say they have no housing options beyond the temporary housing units. Second, commonly shared spaces in the complex are deteriorating. And third, because there is little interaction with the residents of the publicly managed reconstruction project residences, the remaining residents of the temporary housing are becoming isolated.

There are also ways in which the activities of Emmaus connect people. One person, who has recently moved out of temporary housing into a house, is brought to Emmaus by her daughter on her way to work in order to continue with the “Radio Gymnastics and Ochakko Salon” program. Another person, who was always a regular attendee, still gets a ride to and from Emmaus once a week and talks with a good friend from the temporary housing. She still looks forward to going to ochakko with the volunteers. For this community of people who have been through the destruction caused by the tsunami and the difficulty of moving out of temporary housing, it takes an unbelievable amount of time and effort to restart their lives. For instance, the head of one of the temporary housing residents’ associations has already moved to a new home, but he still commutes to the temporary housing in order to keep up with the association’s activities, and he is also making preparations to establish a new residents’ association in the newly constructed publicly managed reconstruction housing project.

At the orientation that the Emmaus volunteers attend when they begin, they are taught the slogan “slow work.” The slogan emphasizes a trusting relationship with each person who is a disaster survivor rather than emphasizing efficiency. I have stressed the importance of going out to the disaster areas and verifying the facts with one’s own eyes, emphasizing that one should not just have sympathy for the survivors but that one should, through a “sensitivity-sharpening encounter,” experience the character and spirit of these people who are trying to get over the reality of the disaster as well as trying to survive. The volunteers know about the East Japan Disaster as historical information. However, when they share their recollections after completing the work, they say that it was a completely different experience when they themselves stood at its actual location. As for myself, I used to be a company employee, but through Emmaus I met people of other occupations, like farmers, for the first time, and experienced heart-to-heart communication with them. The situation of the disaster areas is changing quickly. Emmaus decided to withdraw agricultural support by the end of September 2016. After that we want to concentrate our efforts on support for residents remaining in temporary housing and their communities and for people living alone.

We want to keep on taking advantage of our connection to this small site, which is part of a great disaster, and use it as a place for young volunteers to have a learning experience. We will continue to endeavor to tell the story of the aftermath of the disaster. (Tr.KT)